Wrath of Tantibus
by IamDragonFury
Summary: Sequel to "Dreams vs. Nightmares". Through the troubled mind of PG, Tantibus returns to the Material Plain to bleed all life from it. Even worse, Marshall Lee is growing ill, overuse of his powers taking a terminal toll on him. With her world and her friend fading, Fionna must find the father of Etherean and Tantibus, the Miracle King, to save Marshall and kill Tantibus for good.
1. Chapter 1

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 1

Here it is, part 4 of the Nightmare Saga.

* * *

_Everyone has dreams, everyone has nightmares, and of course everyone has memories._

_Yes memories, some good, some bad, some you just want so much to forget._

_Though while dreams, nightmares, and moments in time com to an end, the memories never go away._

_If you are one who never forgets what they see, then you better hope you can forget your worst nightmares._

* * *

**~Aaa~**

It was about five in the morning in the Candy Kingdom, and all of the Candy People were still sleeping soundly.

Everyone had been rendered exhausted from the recent events.

At the Candy Castle, Prince Gumball was trying to sleep, and for most of the night he managed to do so quite well.

However, as he slept his mind started to act up as heard a voice inside his head.

"_Remember this game..."_

It was Tantibus.

"Re-mem-ber?" Gumball murmured in his sleep.

"_Remember my place..."_

Gumball started to toss in his sleep.

"_Remember my name..."_

"Tantibus." Gumball said tensely starting to wake up.

"_Remember my face!" _Tantibus said frimly in his mind.

When he saw her eyes appear in his mind, he immediately woke up.

"I remember!" he gasped, sitting up in his bed, "Huh!?"

He looked around.

"That felt weird," he said inhaling and exhaling deeply, "that felt real, very lucid."

Gumball laid back down, but he did not go back to sleep.

"Something is going to happen," he muttered, "I know it, it's inevitable."

"_Aww_," Tantibus taunted in his mind, "_how smart you are, princey_."

Gumball rolled around in his covers until he was wrapped up like a caterpillar in a chrysalis.

"_This is not a dream, Bubba,_" Tantibus told the prince, her voice reverberating in his head, "_I am back and you have opened the door for me."_

Gumball felt like something was literally crawling around inside his head.

"_This time there will be no mistakes, puppet!_" Tantibus asserted.

"Oh, Cosmic Owl," Gumball groaned aloud, "when will it ever end?"

* * *

Things may get weird.


	2. Chapter 2

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 2

Here we go.

* * *

After everything that happened, Fionna and Cake were trying to get back on track from the last few months. So many chores had piled up due to the whole "Nightmare" fiasco.

Marshall Lee was helping them get their stuff back in order.

Fionna picked up their trash can.

"Wow," she said, "I can't believe how full this got."

"That's what happens when one gets preoccupied for two months." Cake said.

"Just dump it in here." Marshall Lee said.

He used his Door Spell to open a portal in the ground.

"You're not supposed to be using your powers Marshall," Fionna told him, "in fact, your not even supposed to moving around."

The last few months of mayhem had left Marshall Lee so drained of strength and vitality, his health had become a concern.

"Your point?" Marshall Lee replied heedlessly.

"Nevermind." Fionna sighed.

She emptied the trash can into the portal.

"Where does that lead?" Fionna asked.

"Nightosphere." Marshall Lee said coolly.

"Ha!" Fionna responded.

She then looked down at Marshall Lee's hands, which appeared all scratched and bruised.

"Marshall, what happened to your hands?" Fionna asked.

Marshall looked at his battered hands.

"Oh yeah, that," he said, "I don't know, for some reason lately I haven't been healing as fast as I normally do."

Fionna looked closely at his hands, then she pulled up his shirt sleeve, to check the extent of his unhealed injuries.

"Maybe I should wear gloves." Marshall Lee stated.

"Or maybe you should avoid getting hurt any more, Marsh." Fionna advised.

"Or maybe you should stop worrying so much;" Marshall said, "you should not be alarmed by every little-" he was cut off when he started coughing heavily, much to the two adventuresses alarm, when he finally stopped, he continued, "as I was saying you should not be alarmed by every little abnormal thing that comes up, that just slows things down."

He coughed one more time, then forced himself to smile.

Fionna smiled reluctantly, and pat him on the head.

"Whatever you say, Marshy." Fionna sighed.

* * *

Eventually stuff will happen.


	3. Chapter 3

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 3

Moving on.

* * *

Prince Gumball was busy in his lab, reorganizing his equipment.

All day he had felt very insecure and on edge, not wanting to leave his lab or let anyone else in.

Gumball just stood there, staring at his stuff.

He heard a knock at the lab door and thought he was going to lose it completely.

PG went to the door and tore it open, finding a confused Peppermint Maid and Cinnamon Bun.

"What!?" Gumball growled, feeling strangely hostile.

The two candy women cringed.

"Prince Gumball," Peppermint Maid asked tensely, "you've been in here all day."

"Yeah," CB added, "what are you doing?"

"None of your business! Go away!" Gumball retorted angrily, "Stay away!"

He then furiously slammed the door.

It was then he had regained some sense, feeling alarmed by his uncharacteristic actions.

"Ugh, why?" he groaned.

Gumball looked at his work station, which had containers of chemicals sitting on it.

For some reason, he started to get another strange feeling.

The prince had the strongest urge to consume the highly toxic chemicals.

Gumball reached down and picked up a canister of arsenic.

It was then he heard Tantibus in his head again.

"_Do_ _it,_" she urged_, _"_swallow it, swallow it all._"

Gumball started to bring the canister to his mouth, preparing to pour the deadly contents into his mouth. Luckily, he was able to gain some control and dropped the canister.

"No!" he cried, "I won't do it! You can't make me!"

"_You can't fight me forever, young Bubba,_" Tantibus warned, "_you will see that soon enough._"

Gumball stood there, untill suddenly he blacked out.

Sometime later he came to, but when he did, he found himself in front of his chalkboard, and discovered that in his catatonic state he had drawn demonic symbols all over it.

Perplexed and miserable, the horrified prince just dropped to the floor and curled up in ball under his chalkboard.

**~Grasslands~**

Fionna and Cake finished getting their house clean, with the help of Marshall Lee.

Now they were trying to relax under the shade of the tree house..

"I can't remember the last time we just did nothing." Cake said, rolling in the grass.

"I know," Fionna said, "it's been a while."

Marshall Lee was sitting next to her, oddly quiet.

Fionna looked over and saw her vampire friend sitting with his eyes closed, his head to his bent knees, and his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach. He looked unnaturally pale, the bluish tint in his skin appearing to have faded.

"Marshall Lee," Fionna asked, "what's wrong?"

With that, Marshall quickly lifted his hands and let go of his belly.

"Huh?" responded hastily, "Nothing, nothing's wrong, I'm fine, I'm just...I'm really tired."

"Tired?" Fionna replied dubiously, "_Just_ tired?"

"Yes," Marshall sighed, "just very, very tired."

He was definitely one who did not like to admit when he was in pain.

"You wanna go home?" Fionna asked.

The vampire boy thought about it.

"Okay." he said quietly.

Fionna saw that he was about to perform the Door Spell.

"Uh uh," Fionna attested, "no Door Spell."

"But it saves so much time." Marshall Lee groaned.

"But it also takes a lot out of you, Marsh, and you know it." Fionna affirmed.

Marshall Lee gave a pouty look.

"We'll do this the old-fashioned way," Fionna said, "come on, Cake."

"I got it." Cake said, enlarging herself.

"This is unreal." Marshall Lee muttered, taking out his umbrella.

After a long walk to the Mountain Kingdom the reached Marshall Lee's cave.

"Are you satisfied?" the vampire questioned the human girl.

"Yeah, kinda." Fionna said.

Marshall Lee entered his house.

"Bye, Marshall." Fionna said.

"Later." Marshall sighed.

He closed the door and floated up to his bedroom.

Marshall Lee dropped down onto his bed and grabbed his small stomach again, which had been hurting all day, but he tried hard to hide it from everyone, especially Fionna, because he knew that if she knew something, no matter how minor, was wrong with him, she would not leave him alone.

Since he did not care much for complaining, he was not sure how to react to his ache.

The only thing he could come up with was, "I imagine this must be what it would feel like to swallow five pounds of razor blades and then follow it up with swallowing a gallon of sulfuric acid." in the most uncaring tone he knew best.

* * *

Still going.

This was another story that came around in my sleep, but it does not always stay the same in my mind.


	4. Chapter 4

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 4

Still going.

* * *

After the stress of that morning, Marshall Lee had called Marceline over.

The one thing he liked best about hanging out with Miss Marceline was that she was the one person in their circle who did not overreact to everything.

"Thanks for coming over, Marce." Marshall Lee said, sitting on his couch.

"No problem." Marceline replied.

"I just had to talk to someone who wasn't so protective or observant." the male vampire said.

"Yeah, I know." Marceline stated.

"I've been trying to stay away from Fionna because...well, you know how she gets." Marshall Lee voiced.

"How she gets with _you_." the female vampire replied.

"Earlier, to avoid letting on about my searing pain, I just told her I was really, super tired." Marshall Lee sighed.

"Did she believe that?" Marceline asked.

"Probably not." Marshall groaned.

"So how do you _really _feel?" Marceline wondered.

"Aside from the agonizing internal pain and recent bouts of explosive projectile vomiting," Marshall Lee said coolly, "I'm good."

"Uh huh..." Marceline replied strangely.

"I feel so off," Marshall Lee sighed, "I can't remember the last time I felt so...you know...unsound."

"I get it." Marceline said in return.

"So," the vampire boy asked, "you promise not to tell?"

"Definitely," Marceline said, as they touched fists, "if anyone does find out it won't be from me."

"Cool." Marshall replied.

Marceline pat him on the shoulder then headed to the door.

"I will say this," Marceline advised, "though you may not feel up to it, you really should at least _attempt_ to eat something."

Marshall Lee responded with a thumbs up, then she left.

The Vampire King slumped languidly down on his couch, he started coughing again, which caused an odd new pain in his lungs.

After sitting still for about five minutes, he forced himself up off of his couch. Marshall felt so sluggish he could not bring himself to float, so he just went to his kitchen on foot.

A sudden dizzy spell caused him to stumble forward, forcing him to grab the refrigerator door for balance. Marshall Lee closed his eyes and rested his head against the cold fridge door and waited for the dizziness to subside.

When the room stopped spinning, Marshall opened the fridge, the sight of his food made his stomach churn instantly. He did not want to do it and he knew he would not be able to do it, but he had no choice but to try.

The vampire reached into his fridge and pulled out an apple; with his hand trembling, Marshall Lee hesitantly brough the apple to his open mouth and slowly dug his fangs into it.

As soon as the first drop of red slid down Marshall's esophagus, he became violently ill as his stomach reacted violently to the unwanted nutrients. He tore the apple from his fangs and dropped it, gagging uncontrollably.

Moments later, he was in his bathroom puking violently, each expulsion leaving him gasping for oxygen when it was over.

After about three hours the excruciating bout ended.

"So uncool..." Marshall said weakly in a strained tone.

He then used his shower hose to rinse out his befouled mouth.

**~Princess Bubblegum's Castle~**

Currently, Princess Bubblegum was in her castle, trying once again to call Prince Gumball, who had allegedly been acting "strange" all day.

However, each time she called, she would get no answer, as unbeknownst to her Gumball had unplugged his phone.

"Ugh, no answer," she said to Lady Rainicorn as she hung up her phone, "I've called that castle like twenty times already and he still hasn't picked up."

"Odd." Lady Rainicorn said in her language.

"I guess I'll just have to go over there myself," Bubblegum sighed, "let's go, Lady."

She climbed onto the Rainicorn's back and the proceeded to head to PG's castle.

* * *

I seriously hope people are reading this, because it's gonna suck if I'm writing this and nobody likes it.


	5. Chapter 5

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 5

Moving on.

* * *

As Princess Bubblegum was on her way to Prince Gumball's castle on Lady Rainicorn, they came across Marceline who was on her way back from Marshall Lee's house.

"Marceline!" Bubblegum called.

The Vampire Queen flew beside them.

"Hey," Marceline said, "where are you going?"

"Bubba's castle," Bubblegum said, "apparently he's been acting weird all day."

"Weird how?" Marceline asked.

"I don't know," PB replied, "but I've tried to call him numerous times and couldn't get a hold of him."

"Weird," Marceline said, "I better come along."

They continued on to Prince Gumball's castle.

When they got there, they found Lord Monochromicorn, Peppermint Maid, and Cinnamon Bun standing outside the castle, appearing scared and worried.

Princess Bubblegum got off of Lady and approached them.

"What's going on?" she questioned.

"Prince Gumball is acting very weird." Peppermint Maid said tensely.

"He threatened us with an axe and ordered us out of the palace," Cinnamon Bun whimpered, "we've started to fear for our lives!"

"That is so uncharacteristic of him." Bubblegum said perplexed.

"He's been in his lab all day and won't let anyone in," Mo-Chro said in morse code, "and he keeps making these growling noises like a wild animal, eating like one too."

Marceline then got an idea, but it was not a good one.

"I think I know what's wrong," Marceline voiced, "is he still in his lab?"

"As as far as we know." Mo-Chro stomped.

"Let's go." Bubblegum said.

They went inside the castle.

"Careful!" CB called after them.

Bubblegum ran up the hallway toward Gumball's lab.

Marceline rushed after her and grabbed her arm.

"Slow down," Marceline advised, "I have a theory, and if I'm right, this could be dangerous."

As they got closer to the lab, they found axe marks all over the place.

"Red flag." Marceline said.

Bubblegum put her ear to the door of the lab.

"It's really quiet in there." she said tensely.

She grabbed the lab door handle, but found that it was locked.

"It's locked." Bubblegum groaned.

"Hold on." Marceline said.

She got down to the door handle.

"I picked a good day to wear this." she said, revealing that she was wearing a cross necklace.

Marceline pushed the end of the cross ornament into the door lock and twisted it until she heard the lock release.

She looked back and gave Bubblegum a thumbs up.

Marceline slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open; they found that the lab was dark and quiet as a graveyard.

Marceline went in first and Bubblegum followed behind her, her foot steps broke the silence as the broken glass and debris crunched beneath her feet.

"Bubba?" Bubblegum called softly.

Just then one light turned on, lighting the room enough for them to see the chalkboard, which read "The Nightmare Daughter Lives".

"Uh..." Bubblegum responded.

They then heard the door go shut and slowly they turned around.

Prince Gumball stood in front of the door, locking it with one hand, while holding an axe in the other.

"Ladies." he said in an uncharacteristically sinister tone.

"Bubba..." Bubblegum spoke tensely.

Marceline moved in front of her defensively when she tried to get closer.

"Careful." the vampiress hissed.

"Dropping in unannounced," Gumball said with an eerie expression on his face, "can't say that I like that." He held the axe in both of his hands in a threatening stance.

"Why are you acting like this?" Bubblegum questioned as Marceline held her back, glaring leerily at the prince.

"Hold on." Marceline told her.

She flew up to PG and pulled off her cross necklace.

"Behold the sign of Christ!" she cried.

The sight of the cross made Gumball his and growl like a rabid animal, his eyes turned a deep burgundy color.

"No!" he snarled, "Get away! Get away! Get away..." as he continued to react his voice began to sound more and more feminine.

"Aha!" Marceline said, "Tantibus! He's possessed by Tantibus!"

"What!?" Bubblegum responded.

"I will bleed this mortal world dry!" Tantibus cried through Gumball's mouth.

"You Nightmare Ho-bag!" Bubblegum yelled, "Get out of my boyfriend!"

"Make me!" Tantibus growled.

Under the influence of Tantibus, Gumball hurled his axe at her, but Marceline pulled her out of the way. Gumball then hissed again, left the lab, and fled the castle.

Bubblegum and Marceline rushed outside.

"Not good!" Bubblegum whined.

"I knew this wasn't over yet," Marceline groaned, "I just knew it!"

"That demon whore is trying to destroy our world again!" Bubblegum affirmed, "And now she's using my boyfriend as a living puppet to do so!"

"Don't worry, Bonnie," Marceline said, "I'm trained for this kinda thing. Exorcisms are one of my new strong points."

"Well first we gotta find...them," Bubblegum said, "but how can do that?"

"Duh," Marceline replied, "my awesome vampire tracking skills."

* * *

Still going.


	6. Chapter 6

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 6

Moving on.

Um...okay, if you are squeamish, or basically don't like vomit and/or blood, you may not like this chapter.

* * *

Fionna and Cake were in the tree house, doing nothing.

Cake was napping and Fionna was just sitting on the couch.

Fionna was just staring at the ceiling, still thinking about Marshall Lee.

It had been a while since she had heard from him, and she was starting to get worried.

"Cake," Fionna called, "Cake!"

Cake opened her eyes.

"Hmm?" she responded.

"I'm a little worried," Fionna said, "I haven't heard from Marshall all day

"Maybe he's busy," Cake offered, "or maybe he's sleeping."

Fionna got up off of the couch.

"Come on." the human girl said.

"What?" Cake replied, "Where?"

"Marshall's house." Fionna stated.

"Fi, I really don't think that's necessary." Cake said.

"Come on, Cake," Fionna urged, "he's all alone over there, with only a cat, which can't do anything for him. All Schwabelle can do it eat when he's dead."

"I don't think the cat would do that." Cake replied strangely.

"You know what I mean." Fionna affirmed.

"I think you're overreacting." Cake said.

"Fine, I'll go by myself." Fionna asserted.

"No, no, no," Cake sighed, "I'll go with you, we may as well, we have nothing else to do."

They then headed for Marshall Lee's house.

Meanwhile at Marshall Lee's house, the infirm vampire was in his bathroom, vomiting for the eighteenth time that day. It took five flushes to completely dispose of the mess.

With his eyes watering from the laborious disgorging, he forced himself to his feet but struggled keep himself up, feeling terribly weak, his insides in such ungodly pain he could barely move.

Marshall Lee looked in his bathroom mirror for a brief moment; he notice a red line form in the corner of his eye and making its way down his face, Marshall rubbed his face with the back of his hand and realized that not only were his eyes watering, but they were now secreting blood.

"Crud." he wheezed.

While fighting another dizzy spell, Marshall Lee managed to stagger all the way to his bed where he willing collapsed after pulling himself onto it.

In the meantime, Fionna and Cake were on their way to the Vampire King's house, when they came across Marceline and Bubblegum who appeared to be in a hurry somewhere themselves.

"Hey look," Fionna said, "it's Bonnie and Marcy."

"What are they doing?" Cake wondered.

"Don't know;" Fionna replied, "PB! Marcy!"

The two lady royals stopped.

"Oh," Marceline answered, "hey guys."

"What are you doing?" Fionna asked.

"Looking for Gumball." Marceline said calmly.

"He's possessed!" Bubblegum cried, "That whore Tantibus is alive and she's using Gumball as a gummy puppet!"

"What?" Fionna responded, "I thought...we saw her get destroyed, how is she still around?"

"I don't know," Marceline replied, "all I know is it's important we find Gumball as soon as possible."

"But we're on our way to Marshall's house," Fionna voiced, "I think something is wrong with him."

"Uh..." Marceline replied awkwardly, "oh...uh huh."

Fionna stared at her for several seconds.

"What do you know?" Fionna questioned tensely.

"Well..." Marceline replied hesitantly.

Fionna reached up, grabbed a handful of the vampiress's hair, and proceeded to yank it forcefully.

"Tell me what you know!" the human girl demanded.

"Ow!" Marceline yelled, "Let go!"

"Fionna!" Cake uttered, "For the love of Grod, let her talk!"

Fionna released Marceline's hair.

"I'm sorry," Fionna whined, "sorry, please, just tell me what's happening."

"Okay," Marceline sighed, fixing her hair, "we spoke recently and apparently he's feeling kinda run down."

"Details, Vampire Queen!" Fionna responded.

"He apparently is experiencing some...pain." Marceline explained falteringly.

"You come with us!" Fionna asserted.

"But what about Bubba?" Bubblegum whimpered.

"Flame Prince can track Gumball down faster than anyone we know," Fionna said, "he can help you, Mo-Chro too."

"Okay." Bubblegum sighed.

Fionna grabbed Marceline by the shirt.

"You are coming with us." Fionna said forcefully.

"Okay, okay," Marceline replied, "let's just be cool here."

The continued on to Marshall Lee's house and Fionna ran straight to the door and pounded on it.

"Marshall Lee!" Fionna called.

He did not answer.

"Hold on a second." Marceline said.

She went in through the cat door and looked around for Marshall.

Eventually she found the unsound vampire boy in his bedroom, lying in his bed.

Marceline got down close to him.

"ML," she said quietly in his ear, "heads up, Fionna is here."

With that, the Vampire King forced himself straight out of bed.

Marshall tried desperately to stand up without falling, Marceline literally having to grab him and hold him steady.

"Careful!" Marceline said.

Fionna and Cake entered the room.

"Marshall?" she spoke curiously.

Marshall Lee shrugged Marceline away.

"Hey." he said as casually as possible.

"What have you been doing, Marshall?" Fionna asked, "I haven't seen you all day."

"Oh nothing," Marshall replied quietly, "it's just been a lazy day for me, that's all."

Fionna walked closer, but Marshall awkwardly backed away.

"Marshall," Fionna asserted, "come here!"

"No," Marshall Lee whined, "I don't want to."

"Marshall, please," Fionna insisted, "you don't look so good." She was alarmed by how much paler the vampire boy looked, the pleasant blue tint in his skin had completely faded to an unhealthy whitish-gray color.

Marshall leaned back against his wall.

"I'm fine! I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine..." he kept saying desperately.

Fionna pressed her hand over his mouth to make him stop.

"Shush." the human girl said.

she reached up with her free hand and gently touched his forehead.

"Oh, Marshy," Fionna gasped, "you feel so hot."

"I..." Marshall tried to respond.

"Marsh," Fionna asked puzzledly, "what that under your eye?" Noticing a red, moist spot forming on his bottom eyelid.

She looked closer and carefully rubbed his bottom eyelid with her thumb, then she looked at it.

"Marshall, your eye," Fionna said worriedly, "it's bleeding..."

"I'm not sick!" Marshall cried, "I'm just..."

It was then he stopped as he felt a new wave of vertigo overtake him, he started swaying back and forth, moaning softly.

"Marshall?" Fionna spoke tensely.

"AH!" Marshall yelled, wrapping his arms around his belly, "It hurts!"

Marceline pulled Fionna away from him, and right then Marshall Lee explosively projectile vomited a torrent of blood, black bile, and some other mysterious matter.

"Dear sweet flippin' Grod in the sky!" Fionna uttered.

"Gross!" Cake uttered, "It's everywhere!"

Marceline looked closes at the mess.

"Oh...no..." she said solemnly.

Marshall Lee fell to the ground unconscious.

Fionna got down next to him and pulled him close.

"Marshy!" she expressed anxiously, "What's wrong with him?"

"Uh..." Marceline replied awkwardly, "there's a good chance that he may, possibly, be...dying."

Fionna held the vampire boy tighter upon hearing Marceline's claim.

"Oh no," Fionna replied, "no way, not after everything that's gone down recently. We will get to the bottom of this, and we will fix this! Or else!"

* * *

Now the story may start to pick up after this point.


	7. Chapter 7

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 7

Still going on.

* * *

On the otherside of Aaa, the possessed Prince Gumball was forced to travel into the Evil Forest under the influence of Tantibus.

"Why are we here?" Gumball wondered grimly.

"Keep walking." Tantibus ordered.

Gumball walked on until he reached the heart of the forest.

"All right," Tantibus said inside Gumball's mind, "we're here."

On a stump lay a pile of dark colored apparel.

"What do you want me to do?" Gumball asked monotonously.

"Put it on." Tantibus instructed.

Gumball obediently picked up the clothes, a black and blue jacket with matching jeans, and put them on over the ones he was already wearing. There was also a black and blue hat and silver boots, which he replaced the shoes he already had on with. It all fit perfectly.

"There we go," Tantibus responded, "much better; and now that we are one, my puppet, flip the stump over."

Once again, with no free will, PG complied and turned the stump over, finding a sword made of black metal and silver, the handle made of gem-incrusted black and white marble stone, and irradiating a dark aura.

"Ha ha ha," Tantibus laughed, "behold, the greatest weapon of dark magic, the Nightmare Sword, able to slice through anything...or anyone...who dare attempts to stop me!"

Prince Gumball stared at the sword, normally he would be terrified, but the corruption of Tantibus's force made him look upon the sword with fascination and the strong urge to hold it in his hands.

"Now..." Tantibus directed, "pick it up."

Gumball willingly reached down and picked up the dark sword, never had he handled such great power in his hands. For once in his life he did not feel scrawny or physically restricted.

"Heh heh," Gumball laughed devilishly, "ah ha ha ha ha, how grand, a sword that even Fionna would not be able to handle, and I can."

"She's a callow child," Tantibus said snidely, "isn't she?"

"Yes!" Gumball uttered without hesitation.

In the back of his mind he could hear his humane conscious desperately trying to be heard over Tantibus.

"_Did I really just say that?_" his original self though, "_I fear my fall will never be broken."_

Just like that, his civil thoughts were gone, and Tantibus was all he heard now.

"Onward my little pawn," Tantibus proclaimed, "we're going to Mars."

* * *

More stuff later.


	8. Chapter 8

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 8

Still going.

* * *

Bubblegum was running all over Aaa with Lady Rainicorn and Lord Monochromicorn, looking for Flame Prince to help find the possessed Prince Gumball.

She came across Water Princess and Flame Princess talking outside the Forest.

"Do either of you know where Flame Prince is?" Bubblegum asked quickly.

"That way." Water Princess said, pointing into the forest.

"Thank you." Bubblegum responded as she ran in that direction.

"Spaz." Flame Princess scoffed.

"Flame Prince!" Bubblegum called running through the forest, "Flame Prince! Flame Prince!"

Down by the river, Flame Prince was watching the frogs jump around, his relationship with Water Princess made him to gain an appreciation for aquatic life.

It was then he saw Princess Bubblegum come running out of the forest, yelling like a freak.

"Holy crap," Flame Prince uttered, "what is wrong with you?"

"Flame Prince," Bubblegum said frantically, "I need your help!"

"Why me?" Flame Prince replied, "Can't your boyfriend help?"

"That's kinda what I need help with," Bubblegum explained, "G's in danger..."

"Oy," Flame Prince sighed, "let me guess, another failed attempt at science."

"No!" PB responded, "He's possessed by Tantibus!"

Flame Prince looked on with a blank look.

"So...he's...in..." Flame Prince replied, his eye twitching, "real danger?"

"Yes," Bubblegum said, "Tantibus is controlling him like a friggin' puppet! Now he's run off, please help me find him."

"All right;" Flame Prince replied, he took a brief moment to looked around, "this way." He pointed North.

"How do you know?" PB wondered.

"Long, _long _story," Flame Prince replied, "let's just move onward."

He then started moving Northward, with Bubblegum and the two magical equines following behind.

Meanwhile, the possessed Prince Gumball ran to the other side of the Forest under the orders of Tantibus.

"No where are you leading me?" Gumball asked, his voice becoming more distorted.

"You'll see." Tantibus said.

Soon they came to the dilapidated house of Magic Man.

"Break the door down." Tantibus instructed.

With not hesitation, Gumball smashed the door down with the sword.

Inside, Magic Man was asleep on a pile of junk on his floor.

When Magic Man heard his door get smashed down he immediately woke up.

"What the hey now?" MM responded, "What is this?"

"Immobilize him." Tantibus told Gumball.

"How..." Gumball wondered.

"Maim his legs." Tantibus directed.

With that, under the influence of Tantibus, Gumball slashed Magic Man's legs with the sword, causing the Mars born magic user to cry out in pain and grab his bloody legs.

"Good Puppet," Tantibus said, "now shove the sword into him."

"You mean...kill him?" Gumball asked monotonously.

"He may die he may not," Tantibus said impatiently, "just do as I say, shove the sword in him and keep it there until I tell you to stop!"

PG obediently thrust the sword into MM's shoulder and kept it there despite the magic user's desperate pleas to stop.

"Hold it," Tantibus said, "hold it."

Gumball held the sword in place for at least a minute.

"Now remove it," Tantibus informed, "for we now have this freak's power."

"Excellent." PG said quietly.

"Now we will go to Mars." Tantibus said.

Now strengthened, Tantibus then used her power to transport herself and her "puppet" to Mars.

Magic Man, wounded but alive, laid on the ground in pain.

"Suck...ish." he groaned.

* * *

More stuff happening.


	9. Chapter 9

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 9

Moving on.

* * *

Flame Prince led Bubblegum and Mo-Chro, after PB sent Lady back to the kingdom for safety reasons, into the forest until they reach Magic Man's house.

"He was here." Flame Prince said.

"Seriously," Princess Bubblegum replied, "how can you tell?"

"Again, long story," Flame Prince replied, "no time to tell it."

They went inside the house, where Magic Man was still laying on the ground.

"If you are looking for who I assume you're looking for," MM said wearily, "he went to Mars."

"Mars?" Flame Prince responded, "How are gonna get to Mars?"

"Finn said there was a Mars transporter in the basement here!" Bubblegum uttered, she then ran to the basement.

"So...you gonna live, or..." Flame Prince asked Magic Man.

"Oh, I'm fine," MM said, "he had a terrible aim, missed my heart by like four inches."

Flame Prince and Lord Monochromicorn followed Bubblegum to the basement.

"All right guys," PB said, standing on the Mars transporter, "we all have to touch this."

Flame Prince placed a foot on the transporter and Mo-Chro a hoof.

"For Bubba!" Bubblegum yelled.

Meanwhile, on Mars, the Tantibus-possessed Prince Gumball had already arrived.

Using the sword, he broke down the door of Grob, Gob, Glob, Grod's castle.

"More...power." the possessed prince growled.

"What?" Grob uttered.

"Is this?" Gob finished.

"Hand over your power, Martian Deity," Gumball demanded, his voice now merged with Tantibus's, "or else."

"You will get nothing!" Glob responded.

"Leave this castle!" Grob continued.

"Before we attack!" Gob added.

"Don't play me!" Gumball growled, "We already took Magic Man's power, so surrender or die!"

Quadruple G pulled out their own sword.

"We will not surrender!" Grod yelled.

PG ran at them with the Nightmare Sword, which they tried blocking with their sword.

"Harder, Prince," Tantibus urged, "bring them down!"

"More power!" Gumball yelled.

With one swift strike with the Nightmare Sword, he broke Quadruple G's sword in half.

"Impossible!" Grob gasped.

"Now do as you did to Magic Man," Tantibus instructed Gumball, "shove that sword into them and hold it there until I have all of their power!"

Prince Gumball unhesitantly drove the sword into Grob Gob Glob Grod's midsection.

"Ah!" the four-faced deity cried, "It burns!"

"Hold the sword, Vessel," Tantibus said, "I _must_ have every last bit of power inside them."

"Then take it." Gumball growled.

Gumball held the sword in place for three minutes, by this time Quadruple G was no longer conscious.

"Got it!" Tantibus affirmed, "Good princey, you are being very cooperative, not that you really have a choice."

Gumball tore the sword from the Martian Deity's body.

Just then Bubblegum arrived with her trackers.

"Told you he was here." Flame prince said.

"Tantibus," Bubblegum yelled, "get out my prince!"

"I shall do no such thing," Tantibus said through Gumball with their voices blended, "he has served me magnificently, and once I regain my full strength I'll suck your whole world dry!"

"You and what army, skank?" Flame Prince scoffed.

"Once I've taken the magic and energy from all of the most powerful beings in existence I won't need an army!" Tantibus proclaimed, "kill'em, Puppet!"

Gumball growled like a rabid wolf and ran toward them with unnatural speed.

Flame Prince quickly created a huge wall of fire in front of them.

"We gotta go, now!" Flame Prince said.

Bubblegum stood there staring on miserably.

"Let's go," Flame Prince urged pulling her away, "we will put it on the list of things to fix later!"

They returned to the transporter and went back to Ooo.

**~Marshall Lee's house~**

Fionna sat vigilantly beside Marshall Lee's bed, going impressive amounts of time without blinking.

The Vampire King lay on the mattress with the appearance of death, his skin colorless and he had dark rings around his eyes.

Marshall would lay so still Fionna put her ear to his chest every hour just to make sure he was still alive.

For one moment, Marshall opened his weary, bloodshot eyes and looked at her.

"F-F..." he attempted to say her name.

"Don't talk," Fionna advised, "don't do anything, just keep breathing."

Marshall Lee laid still.

He suddenly started coughing arduously, trying to stifle it with his fist, causing his hand to be coated in blood. The male vampire had never felt or appeared so weak before in his life.

When he stopped coughing he started squirming weakly breathing like a fish trapped on dry land, then he stop moving and choked up another profuse quantity of red and black sludge. It was like a scene out of a horrible nightmare.

Cake who, was keeping her distance from the sick vampire, was standing by the door. Disgusted, she reached out her stretchy arm and tapped Fionna's shoulder.

"Fionna," she said quietly, "come here."

"No." Fionna said in return.

Cake wrapped her arm around Fionna's waist and pulled her over to her.

"What!?" Fionna responded impatiently.

"How can you just stand there and not be disgusted?" the cat asked.

"It's not like I'm enjoying it, Cake." Fionna said.

"But," Cake replied, "it's _everywhere_, and we don't even know what _it _is."

Fionna unwrapped Cake's arm from her waist and went back to Marshall's bedside, the ailing vampire's hair was damp with sweat.

The human girl touched the vampire's pallid face again, but felt as if she were touching an oven.

"Your fever is getting worse." Fionna murmured distraughtly.

She looked at the sick-coated carpet, which was definitely going to have to be replaced eventually, then at Marceline who staring out the window.

Fionna walked over and once again pulled on Marceline's long black hair.

"Ow!" Marceline responded, "What now?"

Fionna pulled her closer by her hair.

"You know something I don't know," the human girl asserted, "I know you do! No tell me right now, why is Marshall so sick?"

"Let go of my hair," Marceline said calmly, "and we will talk about it."

Fionna released the female vampire's hair.

Marceline proceeded to carefully push Fionna out of the room.

"Okay, here's the real deal," Marceline said, "I have seen this many times before, and most times it doesn't end well."

"What is _it!_?" Fionna asked impatiently.

"In the world of Magic Users and supernatural species it's called Magicales Sanguis." Marceline said.

"I don't fully understand Latin yet, Marceline." Fionna replied.

"Well in translation it means Magical Hemorrhage," Marceline explained, "it's what happens when someone overuses their powers to such an extent they can't regenerate naturally, in most cases they end up weakened to the point where they are just too far gone to recover."

Fionna looked on with a blank expression for several seconds.

"Anything else?" she asked monotonously.

"Yeah," Marceline continued hesitantly, "from what I've seen and heard, Magicales Sanguis is probably one of, if not _the_, most agonizing terminal affliction one could possibly contract, compared to everything else, it makes getting eaten alive by zombies look like dying peacefully in your sleep. It makes one's temperature sky-rocket until they basically cook on the inside. Also, it makes the infected's organs deteriorate from the inside out, causing them to disgorge them bit by bit, that is why Marshall is spewing blood and black bile, with the etcetera, the...solid fragments, being bits of his decaying organs."

Fionna continued looking on blankly.

"Interesting." Fionna said flatly.

"You are responding to this fairly well," Marceline said, "most people I enlighten about this vomit before I've even finished listing the details."

"Thanks to a gift from a certain ally I can no longer vomit or even become nauseated." Fionna affirmed.

"Interesting." Marceline said in return.

It was then Fionna relented to her placidity.

"So in this situation you are virtually useless?" Fionna sighed.

"Not completely," Marceline said, "I can keep track of the progression."

"Yeah," Fionna said, "but you can't fix it so..."

"No, _I _can't," Marceline offered, "but that doesn't mean that there isn't someone who can't."

Fionna walked back into the bedroom, where Cake was sitting a good distance away from Marshall Lee's bed.

She resumed her place by Marshall's bed and became deep in thought as she watched the indisposed Vampire King lay on his bed with a corpselike appearance, squirming briefly every so often from the pain and discomfort.

After about ten minutes of thinking, Fionna had finally had an idea.

Cake could tell by the human girl's expression that she had a good plan.

"Whatcha thinkin'?" Cake asked.

Fionna looked at her with an intent look.

"I'm going to the Imagination Realm." she said firmly.

* * *

Next, a discussion with the Dream Prince.


	10. Chapter 10

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 10

To the Imagination Realm.

* * *

Fionna pulled Cake aside.

"Okay here's what I'm gonna do," Fionna explained, "I'm gonna go to the Imagination Realm and talk to Dream Prince Etherean, and see if he can fix our Marshall Lee and get do something about Tantibus."

"How are we gonna get there?" Cake asked.

"Uh, no, _I _am going to the Imagination Realm," Fionna affirmed, "and _you _are gonna stay here with Marceline, so you can inform of what is happening in my absence."

"But if I'm stayin' here," Cake asked, "how will you get there?"

Fionna pulled a sword from her backpack.

"Oh," she said surely, "I'm not going alone."

Cake looked on warily.

"I know who to recruit." Fionna said.

She then turned back to the unconscious Marshall Lee.

"You will be here when I get back." Fionna whispered assuredly in his ear, though whether he heard her or not was uncertain.

She quickly kissed his sweltering forehead, then she turned back to Cake.

"Okay, now I'm off." Fionna said.

**~Finn & Jake's Tree House~**

Finn and Jake were both asleep in their respective beds, as it was now nighttime.

Fionna, who had come there from Marshall Lee's house, carefully pried open one of the windows and quietly climbed inside with her sword at hand.

She found Finn and Jake sleeping soundly.

"Wake up!" Fionna yelled.

When neither of them so much as stirred, she became anxious.

Fionna marched over and yanked Jake's drawer bed out and made it hit the floor with him in it, waking him instantly.

"Hey!" Jake responded.

Then Fionna went over to Finn's bed and shoved the human boy off the bed and onto the ground, which woke him as well.

"What the!" Finn uttered, then he saw Fionna, "What is wrong with you!?"

"Well you didn't hear me," Fionna said, "and I had to wake you up somehow."

"Why are you in our house?" Finn questioned.

"Here is the situation," Fionna informed them firmly, "Marshall Lee is very sick, most likely dying, and Gumball is possessed by Tantibus, who's using him like a little puppet thing!"

"Okay," Finn replied, "that all sounds pretty intense, but what does that have to do with us?"

"I am going to the Imagination Realm to talk to the Dream Prince," Fionna said, "and I need someone to go with me in case of some kind of emegency."

Finn and Jake looked at each other.

"Well, okay," Finn said, "but I think you're gonna need more than just us."

"Who else will we get?" Fionna wondered, "Bubblegum, Flame Prince, and Mo-Chro are looking for Gumball, Tantibus made him run off."

"Wait," Jake asked, "how are we even supposed to get to the Imagination Realm?"

"I know the way." Fionna said.

Then, she called out for her allies Glacia, Botania, and Bronta, the former followers of Malicia who broke free of her corruption. It did not take long for the three to show up in the Tree House.

"You rang?" Glacia spoke first.

"We have to get to the Imagination Realm," Fionna said frantically, "it's an emergency!"

"We're aware," Botania said, "Tantibus lives and she's possessed the weird pink prince."

"Gumball," Fionna replied, "yeah, but not just that, Marshall Lee is very sick, he has something called...Magicales seg...sengi...Magical Hemorrhage."

The three sisters looked on oddly.

"And he's still alive?" Bronta asked.

"Well right now, yeah." Fionna said.

"Well then we can't waste time we don't have," Glacia said, "we'll go with you."

"Wait," Finn voiced, "how are we gonna know what's going on here while we're gone?"

"Beemo." Fionna said.

"Right;" Finn responded, "Beemo!"

Beemo powered on.

"What is it?" Beemo responded.

"We need to go somewhere," Finn said, "go over to ML's house and when we call you show us what's happening."

"Yes, Finn." Beemo said.

"Let's go," Fionna said, "now, now, now!"

With one swift hand movement she opened the portal to the Imagination Realm.

Upon going through it, Fionna found that this time they were directly inside the Throne Room of Etherean's castle.

"There you are," Dream Prince said, "I was wondering when you were gonna get here."

"So you know about everything?" Fionna asked, "Tantibus? Possessed Gumball? Dying Marshy?"

"Duh." Etherean responded.

"Well, can you help us?" Fionna replied.

"I want to," Dream Prince said, "but this time my power will not nearly be enough, Tantibus has grown too powerful since I last encountered her and all the positivity in the world isn't going to help me."

"So...you can't do anything?" Fionna voiced solemnly.

"I'm a creator of fantasies and illusions, the only thing I can create that can last forever are organic things," Etherean expressed, "but I am not a miracle worker, I can't fully wipe out all evil, just fend it off, and I can't bring dead or dying living things not created by me back to life."

Fionna looked on, twitching.

She inhaled deeply, gearing up to scream.

"But I know who can." Dream Prince said surely.

With that, Fionna exhaled deeply, losing the urge to scream.

"Do tell." she requested placidly.

"If you want to get rid of Tantibus for good and save your friends," Etherean informed, "you'll have to get to my father, Caelestis, the Miracle King."

"Right," Fionna responded, "how do we get there?"

"Follow me." Dream Prince said, beckoning with his white hand.

He brought them to a giant ring made of multicolored crystals.

"This will take us right to the Miracle Kingdom," Etherean explained, "which is located directly above Glob World, there my dad listens for desperate calls from mortals to perform miracles the other deities won't perform, but he only helps those who are worthy."

"I'm worthy!" Fionna responded, "I have to be!"

"Then you'll have to prove by getting to his castle no matter what." Etherean said.

"I'm ready!" Fionna replied.

"'Righty," Dream Prince said, "let's go."

He stomped on the crystal circle twice and a portal opened in the center.

Fionna took a few steps back, the she ran toward the circle.

"For Marshy!" she shouted as she dived into the portal.

The others then jumped after her.

* * *

And next I will get back with Bubblegum and the others and the possessed PG.


	11. Chapter 11

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 11

Moving on.

* * *

After the act on Mars, the possessed Prince Gumball was driven to go to Wizard City, by Tantibus's orders.

The possessed prince was standing on a hill, looking down at the city. Watching the wizards going about their business.

"Look at all that power, Puppet," Tantibus sighed, "it makes my mouth water."

"Interesting." Gumball responded.

"Now my little princely puppet," Tantibus prompted, "it's time to get back to business."

"Right." Gumball said in return.

He then approached Wizard City with the Nightmare Sword at hand.

At the threshold of the city, Tantibus told Gumball to stop and then instructed him to stab the sword into the ground.

PG plunged the sword into the stone ground, and just as the wizards noticed something was amiss they all became immobilized in magical traps, which slowly and agonizingly sapped them of their power.

Only one wizard escaped having her powers taken, Huntress Wizard managed to fight back enough to flee the city without losing her powers.

"You know the drill, my vessel," Tantibus told Gumball, "hold the sword in place until I tell you to stop."

Gumball gripped the sword's handle tightly and held it firmly in place, undaunted by the deafening sounds of the wizards, young and old, crying out in agony as their power and energy was forcibly drained from their bodies.

Meanwhile, Princess Bubblegum and Lord Monochromicorn, following Flame Prince, were still trying to track down the corrupted Gumball.

"Hey," Bubblegum said, "we're near Wizard City."

"That way." Flame Prince said, pointing the direction of the city.

Just as they headed toward the city they encountered the frazzled Huntress Wizard.

"Huntress Wizard," Bubblegum asked, "what happened?"

"The city's been attacked, man," Huntress Wizard said, mad and weary, "some bluish, glowing freak showed up with a weird sword, stabbed it into the ground, and just started draining everyone's powers. I was the only one who got away."

"Tantibus." Mo-Chro neighed and stomped furiously.

"Bubba!" Bubblegum gasped.

They hurried to the city and saw that the place dark and withered, upon entering the city they found the streets strewn with fallen wizards from the aftermath of Gumball's corruption induced attack. Some of them squirmed wearily or groaned aloud in pain, while some did not move or react at all, some of them almost appearing to be dead.

Bubblegum ran into the very weak, half conscious, Bufo host, lying on the ground.

"Where is the one that did this to you?" Bubblegum questioned.

"The arena." the Bufo said weakly.

"Thank you." Bubblegum replied, then she stepped over the wizard and continued on with Flame Prince and Mo-Chro.

Bubblegum was the first one to enter the arena, the men eventually catching up with her.

"I didn't know you could run that fast." Flame Prince voiced.

"Sweet Grod in the sky!" Bubblegum uttered.

For upon looking straight ahead she saw Gumball stabbing Grand Master Wizard with the Nightmare Sword and holding it as Tantibus drained the wizards power.

"Tantibus!" Flame Prince shouted.

"Gumball!" Bubblegum shouted.

Gumball twitched, still holding the sword in place as GMW groaned in pain.

"Bel...zy?" he struggled to speak over his corrupted conscience.

"Ignore them!" Tantibus hissed.

"Tantibus!" Bubblegum shouted, "Get out of Bubba's body, I don't care what you do next! Just get out of my man!"

"Are you three just gonna show up everywhere I go?" Tantibus questioned.

Lord Monochromicorn furiously and stomped the ground with a threatening stance.

"Down horsey!" Tantibus growled.

Mo-Chro charged forward.

"Down...Mo-Chro." Gumball said in his own voice by Tantibus's control.

At the sound of his masters voice, and his near life long nickname, Mo-Chro was compelled to obey the command. He docily bent his knees and got down on the ground.

"Mo-Chro," Bubblegum voiced, "don't do _that!_"

By Tantibus's control Gumball drove the Nightmare Sword into the ground to create a chasm they could not get over.

The possessed Gumball approached the despondent stallion and put his small hand on Mo-Chro's black snout.

"I miss you, Mo-Chro," the prince said in his own voice, "but since you're here now you should...come...along...with me."

Lord Monochromicorn stood up on his hooves, torn between obeying his master and fighting Tantibus who had him possessed.

"Shhh..." the prince said in a distorted voice, holding Mo-Chro's snout with his hands and touching his head to the steed's, "join me, horsey!"

Soon, Lord Monochromicorn felt an electric sensation all across his long body, his mentality and body was very quickly taken over by the corruptive nightmare power of Tantibus.

Mo-Chro's main went from gray hair to silver spikes from his head all down his neck, his tail went from gray hair to a long black demonic tail with a three-pronged tip. Spikes grew out of his hooves, his eyes turned to glowing green orbs, and blue lightning patterns covered his black fur.

"Really!?" Bubblegum uttered.

The possessed Gumball stroked the newly transformed Lord Monochromicorn's snout.

"Yessss," Tantibus said contently through Gumball, "a mount fit for a queen."

Tantibus finished it by magically creating glowing electrum armour for Mo-Chro.

"Now," Tantibus said, "we leave."

She forced Prince Gumball to mount the now possessed LM.

"Do something." Bubblegum told Flame Prince.

"I can't," Flame Prince said, "I don't wanna end up hurting the real Pinkus and Mo-Chro."

"Well it's been fun," Tantibus voiced, this time through Lord Monochromicorn, "but now I think I'm gonna go pay a much-needed visit to my little brother."

With that, Gumball kicked Mo-Chro's side.

"Heya!" he growled.

The stallion bolted off, leaving Bubblegum and Flame Princess in the arena.

"This won't end well." Flame Prince stated.

* * *

More after this.


	12. Chapter 12

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 12

Still going.

* * *

Fionna and co. had made it to the Miracle Realm, where they were said to be able to find the Miracle King, the father of Etherean and Tantibus, who according to Dream Prince could take down Tantibus once and for all.

"Are you sure your dad will help us?" Fionna asked Etherean.

"Of course," Dream Prince said, "he despises Tantibus more than anyone else, maybe even more than me, which is impressive."

After traveling for many miles over the abnormal landscape, they could see the Miracle King's castle on the horizon.

"There's dad's castle." Etherean said, pointing at the radiant palace.

They started the get closer, until there was a flash of blue lightning, followed by an eerie roll of thunder.

"No way!" Fionna uttered, looking up.

They saw the demonic looking Prince Gumball and Lord Monochromicorn, still possessed by Tantibus.

"Oh no," Finn voiced, "she's wonked out Peej and Mo-Chro!"

"Well look here," Tantibus scoffed through Lord Monochromicorn, "paying Daddy a visit, little brother?"

"Shut up, Tantibus," Dream Prince growled, "friggin' Nightmare jez!"

"Leave our lives alone, Tantibus!" Fionna yelled.

"I'm not here for you, amateur!" Tantibus snarled, "I'm here for my _brother_!"

Gumball kicked Mo-Chro's sides and the stallion let out a fierce, monstrous whinny before diving at Etherean and trying to pull him through a portal in the ground.

"No!" Fionna gasped.

"Go to the castle!" Dream Prince shouted before finally being pulled away by the possessed Mo-Chro and Gumball.

The young adventurerers looked on in shock.

"Ugh!" Fionna groaned, stomping on the ground, "this gets more personal by the minute!"

"Let's just get to the castle like he said." Finn said.

The three then proceeded towards the Miracle King's castle.

**~Marshall Lee's House~**

Marceline was in the living room of the dimly lit house, while Cake had remained in the bedroom.

Though disgusted by Marshall Lee's dreadful symptoms, the cat remained where she was just as she had promised.

After getting over the initial repulsion to the vampire's condition, Cake got closer to the bed, though the carpet was unpleasant to walk on as it was grungy beyond restoration from Marshall's fatal disgorging. He was getting weaker by each passing hour.

The Vampire King lay wracked with pain and fever, shivering and sweating uncontrollably. Despite every instant she could recall during adventures where she saw something terrible, Cake found the sight of the dying Marshall Lee the hardest thing to watch, mostly because of the stake at risk. It was also the first time she had seen the vampire look so vulnerable, she found it hard to believe that this was the same vampire she used to fear, now she just feared for him.

Even though he was weak to the point of near paralysis, Marshall Lee continued she stir uncomfortably from discomfort and delirium.

"Da...Daddy?" Marshall Lee whimpered in his sleep.

"Uh oh." Cake murmured, realizing the vampire boy was dreaming again.

"Daddy," Marshall Lee whined weakly, "take me to Paradise with you, I wanna go to Heaven too. Don't leave me here...Daddy?"

Cake desperately repressed tears as she tried to ease the ill vampire distress.

She stretched out a paw and gently pushed on Marshall Lee's shoulder.

"Marshall," Cake said softly, "Marshy, wake up, you're dreaming again."

Just then, the vampire opened his eyes and some how forced himself upright.

"Fionna!" he cried, tears of blood flowing down his pale face.

His action caused him to throw up yet another mess of blood and bile.

"Oh, Marshall!" Cake gasped.

She used her stretchy arms to force him back down.

The Vampire King laid against his pillow whimpering and breathing heavily.

"Shhh, It's okay," Cake soothed, "it was just a bad dream."

"Fionna? Where's Fionna?" Marshall asked wearily.

"She had to go take care of a problem," Cake said, "she'll be back. You just need to relax."

Marshall tried to calm down, until he once again lost consciousness.

Cake sighed dismally and wrapped her paw around the vampire's sweltering hand.

"No pressure, Fi," Cake muttered, "but for real, you kinda need to hurry, hurry, hurry."

* * *

There, another chapter.

More to come after this.


	13. Chapter 13

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 13

Still going.

The Miracle King/King Caelestis will also be referred to as KC or MK.

* * *

After his latest encounter of his sister, Tantibus, Etherean found himself in an unfamiliar area, held by magical restraints. The Dream Prince recognized the magic of his chains being of unholy sister. Though irritated and deep in thought, he was not scared. Never would he allow himself to be afraid of Tantibus.

Suddenly, the room lightened slightly, and all around him, each lying on slabs of stone, surrounded by a magical barrier, he saw the near lifeless frames of Tantibus's powerful victims who had been robbed of their power and energy.

Among the devitalized were Grod, Gob, Glob, Grob, Grand Master Wizard, several wizards, the Door Lord, the Flame King, and many others.

"Whoa..." Etherean exhaled quietly.

The Dream Prince also saw an unoccupied slab of stone, which he was certain was reserved for him, once Tantibus sucked him dry.

Just then, another entered the area, it was the possessed and heavily corrupted Prince Gumball, holding the Nightmare Sword.

Etherean saw through this immediately.

"Possession, Tantibus?" the Dream Prince scoffed, "How predictably cliché."

"I'm not here to impress you, runt." Tantibus growled.

"Oh I know why you're here," Etherean said flatly, "just make it quick."

Tantibus, moving Gumball like a puppet, looked on curiously.

"You...think I'm going to do to you what I've done to this others?" Tantibus voiced, "Oh no, little brother, no, I have other plans for you."

Gumball held up the sword, but instead of bringing down the blade, the possessed prince brought the dense handle down the Dream Prince's head, knocking him out.

"Your power pales in comparison to _Daddy Dearest's_," Tantibus hissed, looming over her unconscious brother, "_his_ power is what I want, and he'll give it right up, because we all know he'll do anything for his favorite seed."

**~Miracle Palace~**

At that very moment, Caelestis felt a sharp sensation in his chest, which told him something bad was about to happen.

"Son!" he gasped, clutching his bony chest.

The Miracle King always knew when something was happening with one of his offspring, whether it was his son doing good or...the other one...doing something unspeakably horrid.

King Caelestis had felt immense regret ever since the day Tantibus had come into existence, he wished he had done away with her when she had yet to reach her full power, unfortunately, even as a toddler, Tantibus exceeded all in intelligence and trickery.

Just then, two pf of KC's servants, two hooded, winged humanoid figures, came into his throne room.

"Your godliness," the male humanoid said, "you have visitors with great urgency regarding your son and daughter."

"We've been over this," the Miracle King affirmed, "we do _NOT _call Tantibus my _daughter_, she is _the mistake_, and you will address her as such!"

The hooded figures looked at each other then back at the king.

"Very well," the female humanoid offered, "you have visitors with urgent business regarding your son and...the mistake."

KC inhaled and exhaled deeply to regain his composure.

"Very well," he said, "send them in."

Outside the throne room door, Fionna, Finn, and Jake, were waiting.

Jake contacted Beemo to get a report on Marshall Lee's condition, according to Beemo, Marshall was indeed still alive, but for how much longer, there was no telling.

The Miracle King's male servant opened the door.

"The king will see you." informed them.

Fionna wasted no time entering the throne room, not bothering to wait for Finn or Jake.

She just ran right up to the Miracle King's throne and fell to her knees before him.

"I'm sorry if this address seems inappropriate your highness," Fionna spoke frantically, "but we have a dire emergency, which I can sum up in only one word...Tantibus!"

"So she _is _alive," KC groaned, "I knew this would happen, she just can't and won't stay down."

"There's more, sir," the human girl expressed, "Tantibus is not just terrorizing the planet again, she's possessed two of our friends and is using them like puppets to steal power for her."

"I knew she was going to resort to that," the Miracle King replied, "I just didn't know when."

"She also took Etherean." Fionna said solemnly.

MK looked on in horror.

"I should have known," he growled, "I should've been watching, she's just so damn fast!"

Fionna stood got to her feet.

"One more thing, your highness." Fionna said grimly.

Caelestis looked on distressedly.

"Oh Gods before me," MK responded anxiously, "what else has she done?"

"Not by her specifically," Fionna explained, "but as a result of all that's happened recently one of our friends has become gravely ill."

"Oh my." MK replied.

"Yeah," Fionna continued, growing more troubled as she went on, "he's really sick, close to death. There's no telling how much longer he has, but if nothing is done he'll..."

She knew what had to be said, but she did not want to say it, she could not. The idea of it alone made her feel weak.

"Please..." Fionna begged on the verge of tears, "sir, please, if he dies...I don't know what I'll do."

The Miracle King listened closely.

"Seriously, Mr. Miracle King," Fionna said gravely, "you have _no_ idea how much Marshall means to me."

Her words caught the attention of one of MK's hooded servants.

"Marshall?" the male servant asked, "M-Marshall Lee?"

"The Vampire King." Fionna answered, nodding.

The servant then looked toward the Miracle King.

"Sire," the hooded man said tensely, falling on his knees, clutching arm rest of MK's throne, "My Lord, you have to help her, please, sir, you must."

Fionna was taken aback by the servant's reaction.

King Caelestis looked understandingly at his oddly frantic servant.

"I know, my friend," he said considerately, placing his hands on the man's shoulder, "but you know how this works."

The servant hung his hooded head and let out a soft whimper.

"How what works?" Fionna wondered.

"I can always easily bring someone back from death," the Miracle King told her, "however, I can only do it if said person _wants _to be brought back."

"But I thought choosing to end ones own life was against nature." Fionna replied.

"That only applies to suicide," the Miracle King explained, "if someone purposely takes their own life, it's wrong, but if someone is close to dying from a reason they did not purposely bring upon themselves, then they can decide whether it's their time to go."

"So your saying that if he doesn't want to live he can't be brought back?" Fionna responded fearfully.

"Basically." KC said.

Fionna geared up to scream.

"There is one way to get around it." MK said.

Fionna exhaled.

"For real?" she replied.

"If you want him to live," the Miracle King informed her, "you have to give him a reason, a real, legit, reason to go on living."

"Okay," Fionna returned, "but how do I do that?"

"Well, if your Marshall Lee is truly on the edge of death," KC explained, "then that means his soul is already preparing to enter the Land of the Dead. I can transport you into the spirit realm, then you'll be able to interact with his departing soul. If you're lucky, you can convince him to stay in the living world with you."

"Yes," Fionna responded certainly, "yes I will, send me there now!"

"All right," MK said, "follow me."

The Miracle King, along with his two servants led them to a large portal.

"Here it is," MK said, "the gateway to the Spirit Realm, All you have to do is walk on through."

Fionna looked at Finn and Jake.

"I'm going in alone this time," she said, "it'll be easier then."

"If you say so." Finn replied.

"You two can come with me," the Miracle King told them, "we have other business to attend to."

"Sure thing." Jake said.

Finn and Jake followed the Miracle King away.

Fionna stared into the portal alongside MK's hooded, male servant.

"You will save him won't you?" the servant asked, "Promise, you will?"

"I swear I will," Fionna responded curiously, "but...why do you care _so _much?"

It was then the servant slowly reached up and pulled down his hood to show his face, as if it were the only thing needed to answer her question.

Fionna gasped in awe, as the servant bore a striking resemblance to her very own Marshall Lee, only older. He two had very light-blue skin, black hair, and sharp fangs.

The only visible difference was that this man had a large pair of wings, similar to that of an angel.

So many questions she wanted to ask, but with so little time, she had to pick what to ask quickly.

"Are you..." she wondered, "are you an...angel?"

"Um...duh." the servant replied dryly, gesturing to his wings, as if to say, "Isn't it obvious?"

"But...you have fangs," Fionna inquired, "are you a vampire too?"

"You don't catch on easily do you?" the servant replied.

"But how is that possible?" Fionna wondered.

"One word," the servant said, "genetics."

Fionna continued to look on in disbelief.

"Listen," the servant said urgently, putting his hands on Fionna's shoulders, "succeed here, and I will answer any other questions you have at a later time."

"Okay," said in return, "I will."

With that, Fionna ran through the Spirit Realm portal, and the angel-vampire man just looked on while doing the sign of the cross.

"Markell." the female servant called.

The male servant joined her as she beckoned him.

"Hey, Marcella." he responded.

"You know," the female humanoid voiced, "a very strange thought just came to mind, I have the strangest feelings that those two," she pointed at Finn and Jake, "know my daughter, that boy must at least, because he carries her scent on him."

* * *

I'll just point this out now, Marcella and Markell are real names, I found them on a list of baby names.

Also, more will come after this.


	14. Chapter 14

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 14

Continuing on.

* * *

Flame Princess was wandering towards the Candy Kingdom, and on her way she happened to pass by th Fire Kingdom .

Curious, Flame Princess decided to get a closer look; she got closer and stayed behind a rock as she inspected the scene closer. What she saw was an equine creature decked out in strange-looking armour, with an ominous figure mounted upon its back.

"That looks like Lord Monochromicorn," she mumbled, "and that looks like...Prince Gumball...no...is it?" Flame Princess strained to look closer, and the foreboding pair did bear a striking resemblance to Mo-Chro and PG, but with some noticeable changes in skin and pelt coloration and apparel. She noticed that Gumball, if that was who she was seeing, was carrying a large sword, which was covered in fresh ash.

PG let out a short cry and kicked the equine's side, urging it fly away. As soon as they were gone, the leery Flame Princess felt the need to take a look at the Fire Palace.

So after making her way through the Fire Kingdom, she made it to the volcanic lair of her birth home. The first odd thing she noticed was that the Flame guards were gone. Then, after forcing her way into the throne room, her sight fell upon a shocking scene. All over the room lay the smoldering remains of dead Flame People, Flame Princess also found the shattered remains of the Flame Kings body armour.

"Dad." she mumbled.

One of the pieces of the armour had a vertical slice in it, clearly indicating that someone had stabbed it. This was puzzling, as Flame People could not be harmed by swords at least not regular swords.

Having seen enough, Flame Princess left the Fire Kingdom and headed straight to the Candy Kingdom.

Meanwhile, a dejected and very worn out Princess Bubblegum and Flame Prince made their way back from the destroyed Wizard City.

"So..." Bubblegum wondered, "what now?"

"I don't know," Flame Prince replied, "don't ask me."

"Bubba's possessed, Mo-Chro's been hijacked, people are dying," PB lamented, "if there's anyway this could possibly get any worse, I'd like to know."

"Actually...", Flame Prince was about to speak, but before he could the ground started to vibrate, "Never mind."

Just then a beam of dark magic erupted from the earth straight into the sky, casting a thick veil of dark energy across the sky.

At that same moment, Flame Princess found them.

"You guys aren't gonna believe this, but..." she started to say, until she noticed odd occurence in front of them, "hey what's that?"

"Uhh..." Bubblegum replied, "perhaps our worst nightmare."

A haunting laugh rang from the dark force.

"I'm ba-ack." Tantibus taunted from darkness.

The three royals stared at the sky.

"Oh...damn." Flame Prince uttered.

* * *

Now it's gotten real.


	15. Chapter 15

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 15

Moving on.

* * *

Cake was in Marshall Lee's kitchen, raiding the fridge, but not as much as she usually did. She was hungry, but not enough to gorge herself, so she merely helped herself to a few of the Vampire King's strawberries.

Just then, she head hissing and growling coming from the living room.

Cake ran into the living room and found Marceline having a feral fit.

"What's going on?" the cat asked.

"Something's happening," Marceline growled, a predatory look in her eyes as she looked out the window, "out there, darkness is falling upon our plane out there!"

"If you wanna go look into it," Cake offered, "I'll stay here."

"Okay." Marceline said.

With that, she grabbed Marshall Lee's handmade, obsidian cross, just in case it was needed, and bolted from the house.

Cake then heard another cat meowing, she looked back and saw Marshall Lee's cat, Schwabelle, pawing pitifully at her food bowl, which was empty. Usually, the cat was vicious and hostile towards mortals in the house, but lately the cat had been less active and more docile. Presumably because the state of her master was affecting her too.

Feeling sorry for the supernatural feline, Cake refilled Schwabelle's food bowl. Though hungry, the cat was not quick to devour her food, she ate it slowly, bit by bit.

After that, Cake returned to Marshall Lee's bedroom, stretching herself over next to the Vampire King's bed. The vampire himself lay completely motionless on his mattress; Cake put her ear to Marshall's rib cage to check for a sign of life. She found that Marshall was still breathing, though very, very weakly, and his withered heart was still barely beating. It was obvious that the vampire boy would be dead soon.

Ever since Fionna left and Cake had stayed behind with the fading vampire boy, Cake had constantly implored Marshall to cling to life, reminding him of his strength and what he has to live for. But Cake knew her words were nothing against the Vampire King's body, whatever happened was up to nature, and she could not do anything about it.

Cake wrapped her paw around Marshall Lee's near-lifeless, sweaty hand, then she leaned closer to the vampire's ear.

"I know we never always got along," she said into Marshall Lee's ear, "and now even though we do we're not as tight as you and Fionna," surprisingly, she felt Marshall's hand twitch and encase hers at the sound of Fionna's name, "but," Cake continued, "we _are _friends, and I do care, I don't know if you know that or not, I do care, but I know Fionna cares more about you than anyone else." Cake quickly rubbed her free paw against her eyes when they began to burn from on coming tears, "Believe me," Cake continued, hear voice breaking, "you are the reason she fights so hard, oh, you have no idea how much you mean to her. And I know, I know, if you die, she will die too, because even if she tries to hide it's obvious, to all of us, you are her life. She needs you as much just as much you need her right now, so please, just hold on a little longer, just a little bt longer."

She was not sure how much, if any of it at all, Marshall heard her say, but she had to say it. However, it was evident that the vampire must have heard something, as he managed to stir, albeit weakly, and very faintly uttered, "F-F-Fi-o-n-na...C-Ca-Ca-ke...M-Mar-cey..." Cake would have stopped him, but she had a feeling that this may have been a good thing, Marshall continued to whisper names of their allies, "F-Fi-nn...Ja-ke...S-Sa-Sa-man-tha..." That last name threw Cake off completely, it sounded familiar, but she had to think about it for a moment.

It was then Marshall went from saying names to feebly whispering something else, "S-Sa-man-tha...T-Ti-ar-a...C-Co-old...C-Cra-zy..."

"Cold? Tiara? Crazy?" Cake responded to Marshall's delirious utterance, she knew who he was referring too, but she had not expected it.

That did not matter at the moment, Cake just held onto Marshall Lee's hand.

"That's right, sweetie," Cake sighed, "just remember those names."

* * *

Next chapter, Fionna begins her journey through the Spirit Realm.

Also, I apologize for how cloying (overly dramatic) this chapter was. I just could not help myself, I'm sorry.


	16. Chapter 16

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 16

Now Fionna begins her trip through the Spirit Realm and Tantibus proceeds to drain the Material Plain of life...again.

* * *

Fionna made her way into the Spirit Realm, the landscape was dark and foreboding, most likely Tantibus's doing. The lesser creatures of the realm appeared frail and starved, most likely from Tantibus's toxic power. To get by, Fionna had to carefully step over the dying spirit creatures, who looked at her pitifully, some weakly grabbed at her legs.

The human girl stopped looking at them and just started running past the doomed creatures, there was nothing she could do for them, she was only there for one soul, and she had to find him fast.

"Fast, fast," Fionna huffed, "gotta work fast!"

As she looked around, she saw eyes of invisible beasts staring at her and heard disembodied screams and snarls echoing all around her. The aura was identical to the Nightmare Realm, which seemed to imply Tantibus was even more of a traitor than she let on. It seemed that her plan for the Nightmare Realm was to steal its life essence, destroy it, and make a new one. It appeared that the Nightmare Realm, having been destroyed, was now part of the Spirit Realm.

Fionna analyzed her surroundings again, and found that the eyes looking at her were not staring her down menacingly, like they normally would, they were looking on in grief and sorrow. They may have been creations of nightmares and negativity, but that did not stop them from being affected by personal tragedies.

"...Sorry." Fionna whispered, wishing she had none the truth earlier so she could have helped change the Nightmare Realm back to its true form, the form Glacia had told her about.

She hoped that if she could bring Marshall Lee back and see Tantibus destroyed, that something, anything, could be done to restore this fallen realm. While also hoping that her own real would not meet the same fate.

* * *

**~Aaa~**

Princess Bubblegum, Flame Prince, and Flame Princess looked on in horror as Tantibus walked out of her dark vortex. Now she looked far different from the last time she was around, she looked a tad older, her skin had gone from blue to a deep, devil red, her eyes were vibrant, glowing orbs of gold, and her hair was black with streaks of silver, blue, violet, and yellow.

"Ha! The queen is back!" Tantibus announced, "And she's here to stay!"

She either did not see the three royals watching, or she was simply ignoring them, as she did not acknowledge them at all.

"Well," Flame Prince said, "I think it's safe to say our world royally f..."

"Wait," Bubblegum voiced, "if she's there in person...then where's Gumball?"

Just then, the vortex of dark energy was pulled to the ground, now a maelstrom of darkness, turning violently on the ground. In the center of it stood the corrupted Prince Gumball, still holding the Nightmare Sword.

"There's your answer." Flame Prince told Bubblegum.

"Bubba!?" Bubblegum gasped.

Tantibus waved her hand and pointed at the royal trio.

"What now?" Flame Princess wondered.

Suddenly, from the dark mess came a possessed Lord Monochromicorn who proceeded to chase after the three onlookers. Tantibus stood there laughing proudly.

In the midst of the mayhem, Gumball unexpectedly dropped the Nightmare Sword, and when he did, he felt himself coming back around. He could hear Bubblegum yelling.

"Wha?" he groaned as he slowly became aware of his surroundings, "...Bel...zy?"

Tantibus sensed this.

"Oh no you don't!" she hissed.

Tantibus rushed back and with her dark power she transferred herself right back into PG's body, pulling him from mental consciousness once again and forcing back into his corrupted state.

"That was a close call," the unholy lass huffed inside the prince's mind, "I better not leave you alone again."

"All is well." Gumball droned under her influence.

"Good puppet," Tantibus voiced, "now pick up your sword and plunge into this royally damned ground, then keep it there until I tell you to stop."

The debased Prince Gumball picked up the Nightmare Sword again.

"So as you wish," he replied docilely, getting down one knee while holding the sword, blade downward, up with both hands, "may the forces of all things negative prosper from this mortal realm."

Then he drove the ungodly sword into the sold ground, at which point it commenced leaching the Material Plain of its vital forces.

* * *

Another chapter done, once again I'm trying to get as much in as possible so this story is not too short.


	17. Chapter 17

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 17

Let's see what else happened.

I know, this definitely is not as good as my last Nightmare stories, I'm sorry.

* * *

The still possessed Prince Gumball stared on into the dark cyclone circling the area, the earth had quickly began to wither from the power of the sword.

Without the sword in his hand, PG felt as if he could feel his true conscience trying to claw its way from the dark void that clouded his mind, while at the same time he could feel the unholy darkness trying to drag him back down.

Tantibus, now moving freely outside of Gumball's body, remained close to her puppet, ensuring that he did not break free of her corruptive hold.

Now, Tantibus wished to take her plan to the next step, as she knew or a fact that her father, Miracle King Caelestis was on his way to the Material Plain. The newest Nightmare Queen made herself materialize next to Gumball.

"Why don't we move to a new area while the sword does its job?" Tantibus voiced, "Trust me, it won't be going anywhere."

She transported herself and her puppet to her lair, which she had moved underground. Gumball said nothing, made no noise, he only looked around lifelessly.

"Admittedly," Tantibus said, "in the beginning I doubted that you would be any use to me at all." The devilish lass snaked an arm around the prince's shoulders, "But after seeing just how vulnerable and submissive you are, I knew this would be a snap."

Gumball, trapped somewhere between his true mind and his possessed state, unemotionally responded with, "I..._am_...vulnerable."

Tantibus could feel her carnal instincts kicking in.

"Just how I like them." she hissed in PG's ear, rubbing his shoulder with her dangerous hand.

Gumball became more alert as he felt Tantibus run her hand down his side and rest it on his hip.

"Now that I think about," Tantibus sighed, "I'm glad I didn't try harder for the Vampire King, sure, he may be the hottest thing living on the Material Plain and he may have power that puts the Lich to shame, but he's so stubborn, too strong-willed, too resistant, I woulda never been able to control him."

"No." Gumball murmured.

Tantibus then turned the possessed prince to face her.

"Why go for a fighter, when I can have one who _can__'t _fight back at all," she said ardently, pulling at the prince's shirt collar, "after all, submission is _hot_!"

Gumball could faintly hear his true conscience in the back of his mind, as if it were trying to talk over the darkness obscuring his mind.

"_You know what she's trying to do,_" his old self told him, "_you can't let her, you can't_!"

As Tantibus gripped Gumball's shirt collar with both hands, the prince brought up his hands and grabbed her wrists. Tantibus just looked at him dubiously.

"Come on now," Tantibus said coolly, "do you really think there's any going back from here, puppet?"

Gumball slowly tried to pull her hands off of him, but at the same he loosened his grip on them.

As he listened to the opposing voices in his mind, one of the darkness and the other of his former self, he finally decided that there was nothing that he could do for himself. The corrupted prince went down on his knees and grabbed his shirt collar with his own hands.

"I probably should be resisting," Gumball voiced, Tantibus staring at him intently, a prurient grin growing on her lovely, wicked face, "but I just can't!" the prince cried literally tearing his own shirt from his body.

Tantibus then put her hands on Gumball's bare shoulders and carefully pinned him against the cold, hard ground.

"Then don't;" Tantibus laughed, "trust me, I do this for a living."

Gumball put his head back and just closed his eyes, while Tantibus proceeded to...enjoy herself. In his mind, Gumball could hear the darkness laughing proudly, while at the same time he could hear his true self sobbing bitterly. No matter how alert he was, he could not break himself free of Tantibus's power, she was just too strong. She was like a demonic parasite, she would suck you dry of energy and power, and everything she took was replaced with wickedness.

After two hours, Tantibus was done with the prince, feeling satisfied and successful.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Prince," Tantibus said casually, "now I have a new, even bigger transaction to take care of."

She then left, leaving the tainted prince lying on the frigid floor.

Gumball laid motionless on the ground for several minutes as he felt himself coming back to true consciousness. As his mind began to reset, the remembrance of his actions under Tantibus's control began to sink in.

"Ugh..." he moaned, "what have I done?"

Gumball sat up and looked down at himself, shivering from the lack of a shirt; he found himself covered in scratches and bruises, some fresh some old, what remained of his clothing was dirty and full of tears.

"W-What have I done!?" he gasped.

* * *

Come on, someone _HAD_ to have seen this coming, someone _had_ to have.

Also, let me know if this should be pushed up to M rating.


	18. Chapter 18

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 18

Moving on.

* * *

Miracle King Caelestus made his way to the Material Plain, almost instantly scowling at the sight before him. He could tell that Tantibus had been there, because the land just looked wrecked.

"Tantibus," MK growled, "when I find that ungodly little snatch, I will fully enervate that vile whore body of hers, then when she's finally weak I will slit her throat like damn pig!"

The raging king followed the trail of darkness, looking for his renounced daughter. He knew he started getting closer to her when he kept finding more and more creature corpses and withered landscape.

Soon, Caelestus found himself in a dead, open field, and he knew this was where he had to be.

"Tantibus." he said.

"Hello, Father." he heard, the soul rattling, icy voice of his regretted offspring.

MK turned around and saw Tantibus standing there, having been waiting for him for some time. He coud tell the outfit she wore was no more than an attempt to look intimidating, but no matter what, Caelestus held no fear of his cast off daughter.

"I get the confrontation," the Miracle King sighed flatly, "but was the unnecessary get up really needed?"

"Well, I coulda come naked," Tantibus said dry, "but, I don't believe in exposing my beautiful flesh to kin."

"Yes," Caelestus voiced, "I guess we should just be grateful that incest was never one of your arousals."

"Well think about it," Tantibus said, "why would I waste my time and energy trying to bag a kinsman when I can get whoever I want...whether they like it or not."

To avoid seeing anymore into the vulgar mind of his daughter, MK wanted to get down to business.

"Enough's enough Tantibus," he said, "just stop the carnage and leave these mortals alone!"

"If the mortals can't handle my leisure time," Tantibus scoffed, "then that's their problem. Besides, I needed the energy...and the food."

"Well you've had your fun, and by the looks of it, you've eaten enough," MK affirmed, "now it's time for you to crawl back to the filth ridden depths of darkness where you belong!"

Tantibus looked down at her claws.

"I will," she stated, "once you hand over all your power to me."

"And why would I do that?" Caelestus questioned.

Tantibus snapped her fingers, causing a living but unconscious Etherean to appear at her feet. She reached down and grabbed the Dream Prince's hair, pulling him up to his knees.

"Wakey, wakey little brother." Tantibus hissed.

Miracle King rolled his eyes, knowing immediately where the situation was going.

Just as Tantibus was about to speak, he cut her off.

"Really, Tantibus," he scoffed, "a hostage situation? I honestly didn't think you would ever go with such a cliché tactic, but perhaps you've just run out of good ideas."

Tantibus ignored his comment.

"Well, since you've already figured it out, then you can guess what happens next," she said, "just give me your power I won't tear out the baby's heart and eat it."

The Miracle King thought about it.

"Yeah." he stated.

He then brought his hands together, causing powerful and blinding microburst.

For a split second, Tantibus closed her eyes, and when she opened them she found that Etherean had been moved from her side and was now safely cradled in the arms of his father.

Tantibus appeared shocked, but tried to shrug it off as nothing.

"Well played, forebearer." Tantibus stated.

Using his power, MK transported his son to a safety.

For several seconds the Miracle King and his Nightmare Queen daughter stood staring each other down, Tantibus's hateful glare, which could normally pierce the soul of whoever she was leering at, hardly fazed the king of miracles.

"You can't win," MK said, "and you know it."

Tantibus looked on dubiously.

"Okay, I can play this game," she voiced, "way to be optimistic, Sir, but you are nothing. I am more powerful than I have ever been."

"You may be powerful," Caelestus said blatantly, "but you are not absolute, you baneful little bitch!"

"I've defeated my mother, I've defeated my brother," Tantibus professed, "so it's only natural that I can take you, old man!"

MK approached his daughter with a fixed expression.

"Your mother...whom you corrupted through careful persuasion," he voiced asserted, "your brother...who is not full-grown or of full power yet; whenever you take on a superior, you create your own advantage before the final confrontation. In reality, my unwanted lass, you are nothing but a cheater and a coward; I know you are afraid of me, you've always been afraid of me, because I was never foolish enough to fall for any of your stupid, unfair traps."

Tantibus turned away.

"I won't deny that you are near invincible, inside and out," she groaned, "but I am not...not...afraid of you, the Nightmares fear nothing, for they spread the fear themselves!"

"Yes, but we all know that nightmares and fear are nothing but products of the mind..." MK attested, "which means...they're not real...which would also mean your powers are pointless, as what they create does not really exist."

Tantibus was quiet for a moment.

"Well if you're going by that logic...then Etherean's powers are pointless as well, becomes dreams aren't real either." she affirmed.

Caelestus remained unaffected.

"Perhaps, but the saying goes "Dreams come true" and Etherean is backed by just about every mortal in existence, through their hope and desire he gains his power," he explained, "people look to him for faith and inspiration, but you...nobody looks to you...you are nothing among anyone...you're a thief, a cheat, a coward, and a whore, but you are nobody's queen, you are nobody's god, your entire existence is for naught."

"Are you done?" Tantibus sighed impatiently, "because I have things to do, plus, your thoughts are nothing false hope."

MK decided it was time for Tantibus to prove just how all-powerful she rally was, to prove that she was not as he saw her.

"All right then, Tantibus," he said, "you think you're so powerful, so brave, so great? Then prove it...fight me."

"What?" the self-proclaimed Nightmare Queen laughed.

"You said you could take me," Caelestus challenged, "Then do it, face me one on one, no armies, just us, on this Material Plain, with no mortal support or interference, just us with what we have at hand."

Tantibus was completely thrown off, she was usually the challenger, but never had she been challenged directly by anyone.

"If you are as great as you proclaim yourself to be, then that should be no problem for you." MK asserted.

Blind by her own arrogant pride, Tantibus had no doubt that this would turn out any different from her last confrontations with challengers.

"Very well, you persistent dick," she proclaimed, "time for us to throw down once and for all, and then we'll see who the ultimate reality bender is!"

* * *

So yeah, Tantibus and MK have the baddest blood amongst this broken family.

Also, I graduate on Sunday, so I'm gonna be busy with dealing with that. But I'll still try to get my fics updated whenever I can.


	19. Chapter 19

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 19

Moving on.

* * *

In the Spirit World, Fionna was still struggling to make her way through, looking for Marshall Lee's soul. If she did not find his soul soon, it would make its way into the afterlife, leaving Marshall Lee himself dead.

The problem was not merely locating the soul, it was getting past the withered and weakened creatures who had been double-crossed by Tantibus. There were so many of them and she could hear them howling and crying, begging for mercy.

She felt so bad for them, but could not help them yet; however, she wondered if they could help her.

"I wonder;" Fionna thought, then aloud asked, "hello? Spirits? If anyone could talk to me, I could really use some help." The noises died down a little, "If you guys help me, then I could help you, help you get back at Tantibus for betraying you like this."

It did not take long for some of the decaying creatures to approach her, having heard her request and offer.

"Please, one of my closest, bestest friends is very close to dying, if he hasn't already," Fionna explained, trying to maintain her cool, "but I was told if I could find his soul here and bring it back to the Material Plain, he would live. Could any of you help me find him?"

The weakened souls looked at each other before nodding in agreement.

"The soul I'm looking for is that of vampire, he's this tall," Fionna said, holding her hand to about Marshall Lee's standing height, "he's physically about eighteen years old, he's got black hair, and he's super handsome. Anyone familiar?"

One of the withering creatures stood up and pointed northward, then another one let out a loud squall and suddenly the drained spirits began to line up vertically in front of Fionna, forming two lines. They were in fact creating a path for her, to lead her in the right direction.

Fionna realized what they were doing.

"Oh," she said, "thank you, and don't worry, I'll return the favor."

The human girl then proceeded to follow the trail she was given, hoping that she was not too late.

* * *

I know it's short, but I wanted to write a chapter to show what was going on in the Spirit World, in case anyone forgot.


	20. Chapter 20

Wrath of Tantibus

Chapter 20

Still going.

I'm dragging this out as long as I can, the other parts of the "Nightmare Saga" raked in a lot of reviews, hopefully this one will too. I know that sounds weird, but I want this story to not suck, if it doesn't already. So...going as long as possible, I'll end it when I feel satisfied with it.

* * *

Tantibus slithered toward an enormous, empty valley, where her father, the Miracle King was waiting for her. After years of avoiding him out of hate and disgust, she was finally going to fight him, however, she was to fight him one on one, with no weapons or minions. However, she did have one advantage, though not at hand, it was still useful.

Prince Gumball was still trapped in the area Tantibus had been keeping him in, he had managed to remain conscious enough to know what had happened to him, but Tantibus's power still had a hold on him. Through his thoughts, Tantibus had access to a moderate supply of nourishment. It was all she needed, at least that's what she thought to herself.

_"Looks like I'm not done with you yet, my princely puppet." _Tantibus told the prince telepathically, which, to her pleasure, caused the pink prince a great amount of mental discomfort.

The Miracle King was already in position, waiting for his dreaded daughter. Though, after standing there on the cliff side for so long, MK got tired of waiting, suspecting Tantibus was up to something. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Caelestus used his power to forcibly transport Tantibus to his area from wherever she was at.

When Tantibus found herself pulled magically against her will to her fathers feet, she was appalled and enraged.

"Ah!" she uttered furiously, "How _dare _you!"

"I got tired of waiting," her not-at-all proud father said blatantly, "are you ready for this or do you refuse like the coward you are?"

Tantibus stood up and looked the higher power in his powerful, golden eyes, glaring hatefully. But of course, her searing gaze had no affect on the royal deity.

"I'm not a coward," Tantibus growled, "I am greater than you, than all deities combined, and it's time you realized that!"

She brought up a glowing fist to strike her father, but the king merely grabbed her wrist, and with a powerful thrust, he smashed her in the face with her own fist.

"You..." Tantibus hissed.

"It's time to play fair Tantibus," the Miracle King affirmed, "your tricks never worked on me in the past and they surely won't work now."

Tantibus felt an overwhelming onslaught of fury, no one had ever confronted her so boldly like this. For years, she had been preparing to take on her father, the only one who seemed immune to her wrath. She had never lost before, and she wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

"I won't let you win," Tantibus attested, "I'll kill you!"

"Well," MK said, "I'm standing right here."

Tantibus built her power, and after her long, life-stealing quest, her body was full to bursting with stolen power. She took on her larger, far more beastly form.

"Come on, old man," she taunted, "let's go!"

Unlike Tantibus, Caelestus did not need time to build up his energy, his full power came to him at will.

The Miracle King took to the air and summoned an array of golden lightning to come down from the sky and attack his vile daughter.

"You brought this on yourself," he proclaimed, "remember that!"

* * *

This fight is just beginning, there will be more of it to come.


End file.
